India’s economic recovery and its relevance to the private sector

The country might be set to lead a global resurgence of the economy this year

December 13, 2021Infrastructure

In the last few months, discussions about the recovery plan have been gaining ground in India. For instance, in November the government announced that an additional $6.3 billion will be distributed to states, in order to drive investments in infrastructure. This action is followed by significant efforts to revitalize the economy, such as the government selling state-owned assets – like railway stations, stadiums and airports – worth around $81 billion in August.
 
After the second COVID-19 wave, the Union goal was to maintain and accelerate the economic recovery, and this is where the private sector has a great opportunity in its hands. India’s Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in November during a meeting with many authorities that she expects the States to help the country become the fastest growing economy in the next few years. According to her, one way of achieving this is to facilitate investments and partnerships.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) highlights as one of the economic challenges and policy priorities for growth in India “implement reforms and privatization, support education and employment, liberalize investment”. IMF’s statements are encouraging and quite bold: “India’s swift and substantial policy responses to the pandemic, including fiscal support and economic reforms, are underpinning a rebound in growth that’s now forecast to be one of the fastest of all major economies”. Despite the surging cases of the Omicron variant this year, there are reasons for hope, since the IMF predicts a lower inflation rate for 2022 (4.9%) compared to 2021 (5.6%) and 2020 (6.2%). Additionally, the projected Gross Public Debt rate is also lower for next year (88.8%) in contrast to 2021 (90.6%) and 2020 (89.6%), and the real Gross Domestic Product growth prediction (8.5%) stays in the same range of 2021 (9.5%). Considering these statements, guidelines and actual efforts from the Center and the industry, it is clear that the Indian infrastructure sector has to be aligned in terms of plans and goals to leverage favorable circumstances. The industry stakeholders are eagerly waiting for Annual Budget announcements expected next week.

The third edition of Infra India GRI 2022 comes into play within this landscape of optimism amidst realistic expectations that the country will lead a global recovery. The annual conference will gather government representatives and leaders of the private industry to debate the main topics and projects of the Infrastructure and Energy sector. These conversations will focus on the recovery plan, transportation solutions, insolvency and stressed assets, ESG, privatization of small airports, renewable energy, and the National Monetization Plan (NMP).

Check more details and join the conference: griclub.org/infraindia 
 
Become a GRI Club member now: griclub.org/membership/infrastructure
 
Written by Lucas Badaracco